Our students lived in the cottage settlement of Novye Veshki, a unique closed elite cottage settlement, 2 km from the Moscow Ring Road, an ecologically clean and safe space. The Novye Veshki International Gymnasium was established for the residents of the cottage settlement, and has approximately 200 students. The guests from Luxembourg were accommodated with host families where they were provided with care and support. They became friends with children from these families, who were also their classmates during the whole week.

Getting to know the capital

Every day, our students attended classes and clubs according to the daily gymnasium schedule, had lunch in the school cafeteria or restaurants, went on excursions, walked and discovered the capital from various points of view. During their visits to the Moscow Planetarium and the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoi Boulevard, they discovered the Moscow Metro. A unique experience was the visit to the SOS Children's Village in Tomilino. Our students also enjoyed the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. They were not afraid of a crowded capital, quickly adapted, were feeling comfortable, taking photographs.

Firm friendship

Many Kalinka's students were impressioned by the openness and kindness of their Moscow peers, as well as by a warm and friendly atmosphere in the gymnasium. For example, girls have friendships with boys. Students in Novye Veshki are very inquisitive and attentive, they strive for knowledge and achieve the highest grade in many subjects. Therefore, the guests from Luxembourg were devoting as much time as possible to their new friends. The stay in Moscow was a real discovery for every participant, a very interesting and unusual experience. The Luxembourgers were together everywhere, that's why they became friends and learned to support each other.

Educational process

The educational process was also very different from the experience that the children had in Luxembourg. Classes start at 9:00 AM and finish at 18:00 PM, with breaks of 15 minutes, four meals a day and a special rest area with bean bag chairs and inflatable mattresses, where you can have a rest or a sleep, if you want. The lessons seemed very interesting. The study programme provides a high-level education in the exact and natural sciences.

Further cooperation

The Kalinka Russian School is very grateful to the Novye Veshki International Gymnasium for the opportunity to get acquainted with the lifestyle of Moscow schoolchildren, for warm hospitality and generosity and the cordial reception extended to the participants throughout their stay in Moscow.

As part of the new program of language and cultural exchange between Luxembourg and Moscow, a pedagogical meeting allowed for an exchange of some successful practices and methodological findings in the teaching of foreign languages. Anna Radishevskaia shared her experience of teaching Russian as a foreign language to children with German, French, Luxembourgish roots. The Kalinka Russian School and the Novye Veshki International Gymnasium are going to continue their partnership on the territory of Luxembourg. The parties are working out comfortable and flexible formats for studies, rest and experience exchange. We hope very much that the nascent project of language and cultural exchange will last for many years and will be interesting and diverse.